Dear People Whom God Loves,
God’s clearest message is communicated through the obscure life of a “criminal” (Jesus of Nazareth).
Jesus was born into a family that was of no particular account in a town that was of no particular account. Except for our Scriptures, he is almost unknown in history. His public life was incredibly short. He had nowhere to lay his head. His disciples were very ordinary people. He was condemned and executed as a criminal. He was a threat to the religious and secular leaders.
If we were God, would this be the path we would choose for the one who proclaims, lives, and brings forth the reign of God? It is good for us to be humble enough to acknowledge that God’s ways are not our ways.
We are called to live and bring forth the reign of God. The path of Jesus should remind us that we will not fulfill our mission by wealth, power, or control. We will not do it by seeking to be famous and being admired by the multitudes.
Jesus was very ordinary by social standards. I believe that calls us to acknowledge that we are all just ordinary people. When we receive lofty positions, we are called to remember (and this is possible only by the grace of God) that these external trappings do not change the inner reality. We are still ordinary. It just becomes harder to admit that or even to recognize it.
It is o.k. to be ordinary because that is who we are. In this ordinariness dwells the presence of Love. To change the title of a book of several decades ago: I’m not o.k. You’re not o.k. But that is o.k.
Smile, God Loves You,
Father Clay
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